Although February has a reputation for celebrating all things related to romance, love, and affection because of Valentine’s Day, it’s also popular for raising awareness about heart health. American Heart Month falls in February, after all, so it’s important to shine a spotlight on heart disease, which has been the leading cause of death in Americans since the 1950s until today.
Sadly, cardiovascular disease (CVD) continues to wreak havoc on the lives of Americans, as evidenced by some jarring statistics: On average, someone dies of CVD every 34 seconds while someone dies of a stroke every 3 minutes and 14 seconds in the US. This is why it’s important to understand the risk of developing heart disease and develop sustainable ways to reduce it via strategic lifestyle and dietary changes.
This article discusses some helpful ways to prevent heart disease and help healthcare professionals show their hearts the love and care they need.
Nurses, keep your hearts healthy: Ways to prevent heart disease
Quit smoking and drink alcohol moderately or occasionally
There are many health-related reasons to quit smoking tobacco and limit your alcohol consumption, and one of them is their direct connection to heart disease.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), smokers are two to four times more at risk for developing coronary heart disease and stroke compared to non-smokers. Additionally, every year, out of the 9.4 million people who die due to coronary heart disease, 1.9 million are caused by tobacco use and exposure to second-hand smoke.
Meanwhile, drinking alcohol can increase blood pressure, which in turn increases the risk of heart disease. A report from the American College of Cardiology states that women who reported having high alcohol intake were 45% more likely to develop heart disease compared to women who reported drinking moderately. Women who drank alcohol moderately were 29% more likely to develop heart disease compared to those who drank alcohol at low levels. Men who reported drinking high levels of alcohol were 22% more likely to develop heart disease compared to moderate alcohol drinkers.
To keep your heart in tip-top shape, consider quitting smoking and reducing your alcohol consumption. There are many effective ways to quit smoking, including seeking the help of a healthcare professional and using nicotine replacement products and non-nicotine medication. The CDC also provides helpful resources, including toll-free numbers, text messaging services, and a mobile app, to help people quit smoking on their website. To reduce or stop drinking, Healthline recommends understanding your relationship with alcohol, identifying your triggers, and preparing for the necessary changes you must make to take that first step.
Manage excess body fat
Having excess body fat or being obese can lead to high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease. In five years’ time, one in five adults may have heart failure because of obesity.
However, even if you’re not technically obese and your body mass index (BMI) is at a healthy level, if you have abdominal fat and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in your midsection and around your vital organs, your risk for heart disease increases.
A great way to manage excess body fat is by losing weight, which can be achieved by prioritizing proper nutrition and staying within caloric goals. Tracking calories is one way to ensure that you’re staying within a caloric deficit, which can help you lose weight and prioritize protein in your diet.
When you practice tracking your calories, you are more prone to being more mindful about what you eat. As a nurse, you’re aware that at times, patients express their appreciation for nurses’ hard work and caring demeanor by giving boxes of donuts, cookies, pastries, chocolates, and other snacks. By tracking your calories, you will be able to partake in such yummy treats in moderation and prevent binge eating or overeating. Focus on a diet composed of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and whole grains instead of heavily processed foods that are high in sugars and unhealthy fats.
Manage your stress
There have been countless news articles and studies about how stressful the healthcare profession is. Stress can negatively affect your heart health — specifically, chronic stress can cause inflammation that could then cause plaque to build up in the arteries and lead to coronary heart disease.
In the course of performing their duties, nurses also have to deal with a lot of emotional stress. Emotional stress can cause mental stress ischemia or stress-induced ischemia, which reduces the amount of blood that flows to parts of your heart. When this happens, the likelihood of having a heart attack doubles.
To effectively manage stress, nurses need to eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly, get an adequate amount of sleep every day, and adopt helpful self-care practices. A 2022 study shared effective self-care micro-practices that nurses can adopt to improve their well-being, including becoming more aware of themselves and their surroundings and taking control of verbal responses and ways of thinking.
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